By Valerie Millette
The LAX Dunes are west of the airport and just south of Marina Del Rey. Today was our first restoration at this site! The Bay Foundation led the event, and the goal today was to pull out nonnative weeds to make room for native plants as the winter rains start to roll in. The dry biomass from invasives takes up precious habitat spaces and could potentially be a catalyst for fires.
Here are Michael and Rhay!
This is telegraph weed (Heterotheca grandiflora)- a native we want to protect! Other natives here are deerweed (Acmispon glaber), silver dune lupine (Lupinus chamissonis), and cliff buckwheat (Eriogonum parvifolium).
On the left is black mustard (Brassica nigra), identifiable by its rounded seeds and single-row seed pods.
On the right is in the Russian thistle genus- tumbleweed (Salsola tragus)!
A few of the other weeds we pulled were filaree (Erodium botrys & E. cicutarium), foxtail brome (Bromus madritensis), and wild radish (Raphanus sativus).
Although we didn't spot any this time, the LAX Dunes are home to fauna such as: the California Common Scorpion (Paruroctonus silvestrii), the San Diego Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum blainvillii), the El Segundo Blue Butterfly (Euphilotes battoides allyni), and even a burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia)!
Students from Dr. Lipman's ecology and conservation biology classes were also helping out at the dunes.
Overall we had pulled out two dozen bags worth of invasive plants! Our next restoration here will be on December 7- please come out and see this special place for yourself!
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